San Juan | Thursday, February 22, 2024 With the purpose of advancing racial equity in the Americas from the philanthropic sector, leaders from 21 foundations in the United States and the Caribbean are meeting this week in Puerto Rico to reflect on the racism prevalent in our communities; how systems have been intentionally organized to perpetuate it; and how spaces for dialogue among Afro-descendant leadership allow for “opening doors,” while achieving the exchange of learning, experiences, and common actions to achieve sustained racial equity over time. With this meeting, action plans for the present and future in the Americas are being created.
The event The Impact of Global Racism in the Americas: A Racial Equity Builders Dialogue, is organized by the Puerto Rico Community Foundation (FCPR) and its program Institute for Building Racial Equity in the Americas (REBIA, for its acronym in English), with the sponsorship of The California Endowment, Association of Black Foundation Executives African American Female, Casey Family Programs, Hispanic in Philanthropy, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, MacArthur Foundation y San Francisco Foundation.
“This is an unprecedented event in this hemisphere, for the first time, African American executives from the United States and the Caribbean in the philanthropic sector are gathering to examine the impact of global racism in the Americas. We are greatly honored that this meeting could be conceived and held in Puerto Rico. The group that has come together has a strong sense of racial justice and is already taking action to build equity and a more just world,” highlighted the President and Chief Executive Officer of the FCPR, Dr. Nelson Colón Tarrats.
The conversation starter group included: the Dr. Epsy A. Campbell Barr, economist, researcher, and activist for human rights in issues related to women, indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples; poverty, social development, and the environment. Additionally, former Vice President of Costa Rica, making her the first Afro-descendant vice president in Latin America – she is currently the president of Permanent Forum on People of African Descent of the United Nations, which seeks to improve the safety, quality of life, and livelihoods of people of African descent. In addition, Angela Glover Blackwell, founder of PolicyLink, organization focused on advancing racial and economic equity; the Dr. David E. Lewis, international business consultant; Pastor Elías Murillo Martínez, lawyer and member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent; Dr. Paul R. Latortue, economist, researcher, and dean of the University of Notre Dame of Haiti; ;y Trista Harris, president of FutureGood, a consulting firm that helps visionaries build a better future.
The conversations were framed not only by the inequalities that Afro-descendants face in the Americas regarding health, education, poverty, migration, violence, and child labor, but also by the progress that has been achieved throughout the Americas. “It is an event of the utmost importance, and also unprecedented. We must congratulate the Puerto Rico Community Foundation for this initiative because it brings philanthropy closer to the global dimension of issues, of the great challenges faced by certain social groups like Afro-descendants,” highlighted Murillo Martínez, a Colombian lawyer with extensive experience in the Afro-descendant agenda.
REBIA seeks to strengthen initiatives and projects in the Americas that present solutions to systemic racism through public policy impact and a new narrative of inclusion and racial equity.
Among the participants were 19 presidents, 8 vice presidents, and 10 board members of foundations, among others. The combined assets of the foundations that attended the event exceed $1.25 trillion. The event also received logistical support from The California Endowment, Association of Black Foundation Executives African American Female, Casey Family Programs, Hispanic in Philanthropy, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, MacArthur Foundation y San Francisco Foundation.
#